Ore-concentrator



2 Sheets-Sheet. 1.

(No Model.)

E. B. HASTINGS.

om GONGBNTRATOR.

Patented Oct. l, 1889.

rNo. 412,180.

B. B. HASTINGS.

ORB GONGBNTRMOR.

Patented Oct. 1, 1889.

WITNEESr-:Eu

umm

UNITED STATES PATENT rricn.

EMORY B. HASTINGS, OF GEORGETOVN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO CHARLES P.OREILLY AND VILLIAM K. URE, BOTH OF DENVER.,

COLORADO.

ORE-CONCENT RATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 412,180, dated October1, 1889.

Application led September 14:, 188B- Serial No. 213,494. (No model.)

To all wwm, it may concer/2,:

Be it known that l, EMORY B. HASTTNGS, a citizen o f the United States,residing at Georgetown, in the county of Clear Creek and State ofColorado,have invented new and useful Improvements in Ore-Oonceutrators,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ore-concentrators, and to that class of saidmachines which embody in their construction a moving porous beduponwhich the crushed ore is deposited, and pneumatic devices for forcingair through said bed and for removing the light earthy or worthlessmatters which are separated from the crushed ore, thereby leaving thevaluable or metallic portion of the latter free and causing its properconcentration and separation; and the invention consists in thepeculiarconstruction and combination of parts of the machine, ashereinafter fully described, and set forth in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specificatie-n, Figure 1 is a sideelevation, partly in section; and Fig. 2 is a plan View of anoreconcentrating machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 3 is a frontelevation, partly in section, showing portions of the revolving ore-bed,the ore-hopper, (the front of the latter being sh own broken away,)together with portions of the air-exhaust and pressureboxes. Fig. a is atransverse sectional view of one end of the blast-box, one head of thecylinder which constitutes said ore-bed, and other detail partshereinafter fully described. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the ore-bedcylinder and blast-box, together with a detailed illustration of a valvein the bottom of one of the air-blastchambers of the machine hereinafterdescribed.

ln the drawings, o indicates a suitable frame upon which the operativeparts of the machine are mount-ed, R being the ore-bed cylinder thereof.Said cylinder consists of two metallic heads d, having lateralprojections on the inner side thereof, to which is secured in anysuitable manner a wire-cloth or a bolting-cloth covering R. A suitablebox l) (see Fig. et) is suitably arranged at each end of the frame o,and within each of said boxes is secured in a xed position a tubularbearing a by the set-screw 2, on which tubular bearings the two heads ofsaid cylinder rotate by means of a suitable belt running upon adriving-pulley c on one of said heads. The said wire-cloth covering ofthe cylinder R is so secured by each edge to the heads thereof as tomaintain the surface ot the cylinder parallel with the axis thereof,said wire-cloth covering as aforesaid constituting what is termed themovable ore -bed of the machine. Vithin said cylinder is iixed anair-blast-box D, having the form which is indicated in Figs. 1 and 5.Said blast-box is constructed with two heads, each one of which issecured by the set-screw 3 to the inner end of the said tubular bearinga, and the upper edge of saidblast-box is made narrower than its .loweredge, as shown, and between its sides is formed an air-passage throughwhich air is forced, as below described, against the inner side of saidcylindrical ore-bed, the latter being adapted to be rotated over saidair-passage. In the lower edge of said blast-box D is pivoted ayalve G,having an arm 4 thereon, and a pin 7 is adj ustably connected, by screwor otherwise, to one of the heads of said cylinder, as shown in Fig. 5,which pin, at each revolution of said cylinder, is carried against theend of said arm l, thereby causing the valve 6 to be opened. A suitablespring is attached to said valve to close it after said pin 7 shall havemoved away from said arm 4:. A perforated metallic air-pipe h, extendingfrom the outer end of each of said tubular bearings from end to end ofsaid blastbox, is connected by each end by the air-pipes H with thesupply-pipe G, which is connected with an air-pressure box t* at therear of the machine. A sliding gate K is placed in said pipe G toregulate the air-pressure in the blast-box D.

The air-pressure box 'if and the exhaust-box w, located above thelatter, are practically air-conductors, of wood or other suitableinaterial, with which are connected blowing and exhaust fans of theordinary description, (not shown in the drawings,) whereby air-pressureis created in box fz; and more or less of a vacuum in the box ic, and inpractice the concentrating-machines are set in front of IOO two suchboxes, the latter being adapted to serve for several machines.

0n the frame 0, a little above and to one side of the axis of thecylinder R, is located the hopper A, in which is placed the gangue orore-bearing material to be operated upon. Said hopper has an inclinedbottom upon which said material rests, at. the lower edge of which is anopening through the side of the hopper for the delivery of saidmaterial, and a suitable gate is arranged above said opening to regulatethe width of the latter. The bottom of the hopper-box, which is at rightangles to the side thereof, is provided with a series of perforations 2through it, which communicate with an air-chamber I under said bottom.The front edge of the bottom of said air-chamber extends beyond the sideof the hopper A through which said material is discharged, leaving anair-passage the whole length of the hopper directly under the opening inthe side of the latter, which air-passage is covered with either awire-netting of suitable fineness l2, or with a coarse wire-clothoverlaid with a finer bolt-ing-cloth.

Within the chamber formed by the aforesaid t-wo bottoms of the hopper A,and at one side of the latter, is placed a perforated airpipe y andextending nearly from end to end thereof, as shown in Fig. 3. Saidperforated air-pipe y is connected with the air-pressu re box v by thepipe G', in which is a sliding gate K for regulating the air-currentwhich enters the pipe y, the latter serving to `distribute the airequally over the bottom of the hopper, through which it is forced intosaid chamber I. In the bottom l5 of the said chamber I is pivoted avalve .5 upon suitable trunnion-bearings, and to one of said trunnionsis attached a vibratory arm 5. (See Fig. 5.) Said valve extends thewhole length of said bottom, and is closed by a suitable spring attachedthereto, and is made to swing open, when desired, by the engagement withsaid lever 5 of a pin m, which projects from thev side of a bar 4 4,which is attached to one of the heads of the ore-bed cylinder, as shownin Fig. 5, where the relative positions of the valve s and its arm andsaid cylinderheadvr are illustrated. An exhaust-box c is supported onthe frame 0 opposite the hopper A and to the outside of the axial lineof the ore-bed cylinder R, having at its lower side an air-passage 13,whose area is regulated by a sliding gate 14 on the side of said box bya screw c' or other suitable means. Said exhaust-box extends over thewhole length of the cylinder R, and is connected with the mainexhaust-box LU by the pipe F. The aforesaid porous covering of theore-bed cylinder .may consist simply of wire-cloth of suitable tineness,or of a coarser wire-cloth upon which is superposed a finerbolting-cloth, the latter y arrangement being preferable when workinggangue of fine quality. In practice it is oftentimes difficult to sounite the edges of the aforesaid porous covering in the cyl- 'inder asto avoid making such a seam therein as will more or less hinder the airfrom passing through the bed as freely at that point as elsewhere, andto regulate the feed of the material to the bed during the rotation ofthe latter, having in view the effect of said seam thereingand to governthe air-blast when-said seam passes over the aforesaid air-passage fromthe blast-box D, the said valve s under chamber I and the valve 6 at thelower edge of the blast-box D are arranged and operate as belowdescribed.

The operation of my improvements is as follows: The gangue is placed inthe hopper on the inclined bottom thereof and flows .therefrom onto theporous covering 12 over the air-passage leading from the chamber I. Itwill be understood that the air-currents from the box t: move in thedirections indicated by the arrows in pipes G and H, in the blast-box D,and from the ore-bed cylinder into the suction-box c', and through thepipes G and y into the hopper-box, and thence into the chamber I beneaththe latter, as also indicated by the arrows in those parts, and that theair movement from the suction-box c into the exhaust-box w is as thereindicated by the arrows. As the ore-bearing matter to be operated uponflows onto the wire-bed 12, the

air from chamber I is forced against it, thereby carrying the ore ontothe cylinder R, while it revolves as above described, where itencounters the current of air which is forced from the blast-box D,Within said cylinder, said air-current rushing forcibly through theporous covering of the cylinder and through the material depositedthereon from the hopper, agitating the ore on said porous covering,thereby forming` layers of the material, which pass under thesuction-,box c. I nd also in practice that the air which rushes into thebox c to fill the vacuum therein is drawnto a considerable extent fromthe interior of the cylinder, asindicated by the direction of the arrowshown with its point in the air-space in the bottom edge of saidsuction-box in Fig. l, and consequently the air drawn from the cylinderpasses through said layers of material and its force is so regulated bythe gate n in the pipe Fl as to have only sufcient force to lift the toplayer, which is the lighter, the valuable part of the matter lyingnearest the cylinder and most removed from the full strength of thesuction, and thus the action of the latter is to take off the worthlessmatter and leave the valuable part on the cylinder.

The above-described peculiar suction action on the gangue is owing tothe fact that the opening in the lower side of the suctionbox ispractically on the bottom of the latter; hence the air comes up from thecylinder substantially in a straight line. After the material which isdeposited on the porous cylinder R from the hopper A has been can,V

ried over the open end of the blast-box D and under the suction-box c',as above described,

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it is practically freed from Worthless earthy substances and is droppedfrom the side ofl ceives matter from the hopper, and consequently, sincethe blast-eect of chamberl is destroyed by opening valve s, no ore canfall upon said seam. The valve is closed with a spring, as aforesaid,When the said pin 'm on the lever l on the head ofthe cylinder movesaway from said lever and the feed is resumed. lWhen said seam reaches apoint Where it would receive thereupon and each side thereof matter fromsaid hopper were it not 'for the action of the valve S, none is foundthereon, and hence the surface of the bed R is clear at that point. Assaid seam approaches the opening over the blast-box D, the ore matterwhich was deposited on said bed in advance of the seam, not beingfollowed by any of said matter to back it up, as it were, is made todance by the action of the air from the blast-box; but when the seamcommences to move over said air-current it picks up and carries the saiddancing gangue along, and as the seam is a dead-point, through which noair can pass as it goes under the suction-box, the gangue is carried bythe seam past thesaid box and deposited with the headings just where itdoes not belong.

The action of the valve 6 is to stop the up-` ward rush of air from thebox D just before the seam reaches the opening in the latter, and thedancing gangue passes over the opening in advance of the seam and iscaught by the suction and carried avvay with the tailings. Immediatelythat the seam passes the opening over box D the valve G closes and theair-current rushes up through the material lying behind the seam. lf anyore falls through the meshes of the cylinder-cover into the blast-box itis discharged therefrom when the valve 6 is opened into the interior ofthe cylinder, and from thence finds its Wayout as the latter rotates.

That I claim as my invention is-A l. An ore-concentrator consisting of arotating porous-covered cylinder, a compressed air-chamber l, locatedcontiguous to said cylinder, having an air-exit passage above thesurface of the latter covered with a porous cloth, a hopper located oversaid chamber having an aperture through which the gangue is deliveredonto said porous cloth, a suctionbox near said cylinder having anair-inlet near the latter, an air-blast box fixed Within said cylinderhaving an air-exit passage therein from which air flows from the coverof the latter, and means, substantially as described, for forcing airinto said blast-box and chamber, and for exhausting the air from saidsuction-box, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. In an ore-concentrator, the rotating orebed cylinder R,'the blast-boxD, fixed Within the latter and having the perforated air-pipe h therein,the air-box o, the pipe G, connecting the latter and said pipe h, thehopper A, having an inclined bottom and a dischargeopening at one sidethereof, the suction-box c', located over said cylinder, the exhaust-boxw, the pipe F, connecting the latter with said suction-box, and means,substantially as described, for forcing air into said box r Yand forexhausting the air from said box tu, substantially as set forth.

3. The hopper A, having an out-let at one side, the air-chamber I,having a pipe-connection, substantially as described, with theairpressure box o, and having an air-outlet contiguous to saidhopper-outlet having a porous covering, the valve s in the bottom ofsaid chamber,having an arm connected therewith, and the ore-bed cylinderR, having a proj ection in position for intermittent engagement withsaid arm,'and a suitable spring to close said valve, combined andoperating substantially as set forth.

4:. The rotating ore-bed cylinder R', the blast-box D,fixed Within thelatter, the valve 6, pivoted at the lower edge of said box, having anarm 4 thereon, which intermittently engages with a projection on thehead of said cylinder, whereby said valve is opened, and a suitablespring to close the latter, combined and operating`substantially as setforth.

. EMORY B. HASTINGS.

NVitnesses:

CHAs. N. TIBBrTrs, R. B. TEACHENOR.

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